Guide My Steps: A Prayer for Heart

I’m passing on this prayer from a dear sister-pastor Rev. Alison J. Buttrick Patton because it really moves me, gives me some extra voice and vision and might do so for you too. Let us not forsake praying in these challenging times! -JackiDear God:

Today I am not feeling very gracious about my fellow citizens on the ‘other side of the aisle.’ I listen to the speeches, and they sound full of arrogance and lies. I know I am supposed to take the log out of my own eye, love my neighbor and all, but it’s hard to love in the face of what feels like a whole lot of self-interested and intentionally misleading talk.

We are so far from your beloved community. When a participant in the convention throws peanuts at an African-American reporter and says, ‘This is how we feed the animals…’ I want to throw up. God, I give thanks that that person was thrown out of the convention hall. Thank you for that.

As for the rest: I’m turning it over to you. You are Judge; you know the intentions of all our hearts. Teach me how to worry less about the perceived misbehavior of others and more about my own labors. Give me the strength and compassion to work for a world that really does tend to – and learn from – ‘the least of these.’

And God: I also want the voice to speak out against racism and economic injustice. I can do that, right? It’s O.K. to call out bad behavior when I see it? To point a finger in the face of hurtful words and destructive actions? ‘Cause I really want to do that… And I think that’s what Jesus did. Guide my steps, God, and my words.